‘Cats Corner is the official blog for the Tri-City ValleyCats, Short Season Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, and member of the historic New York-Penn League. 'Cats Corner consistently ranks as one of the top 50 professional blogs on the MLB.com network. With game and promotional recaps, team analysis and more, 'Cats Corner is ValleyCats fans #1 source for information.

Spring is in the air!

Spring is in the air and that means baseball! With the beginning of Spring Training and the unseasonably warm weather, it makes a bit extra exciting to start thinking about everything we have in store for our fans in 2012, and there is a LOT to be excited about.

Affordable fun, exciting promotions, great food, professional baseball and much more! Not to mention that the Houston Astros have the #1 pick in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft, and that pick has a very great chance to become a ValleyCat.

Opening Night is on Wednesday, June 20 against the defending Stedler Division champion Vermont Lake Monsters. We believe every year that opening night marks the beginning of summer, but this year it’s official! It will be a great night at “The Joe” as we welcome back the “Boys of Summer!” Like tradition, post-game fireworks will follow the game! As always, our friends at Price Chopper will be sponsoring all 14 fireworks shows during the season.

Another very hot ticket during each ValleyCats season is the Fourth of July. This year the ‘Cats welcome in the State College Spikes for a special 6pm first pitch. It will be a great Independence Day celebration, complemented by a spectacular fireworks show.

2011 4th of July at “The Joe:”

Photo Day will be held on Saturday, July 7th and team posters of the 2012 ValleyCats will be handed out to all fans through the gates. Fans will have the chance to take pre-game pictures on the field with the team.

A special element to this night is that the ValleyCats will be wearing Relay For Life jerseys. These custom purple jerseys will be auctioned off following the game with proceeds going to benefit American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.

We’ll be giving away two bobbleheads this season, with the first coming on Monday, July 9. The identity of this bobblehead has not yet been revealed and the only thing we can say at this moment is that it is “We Love New York Night.”

The second bobblehead will be given away on Monday, August 20 as the ‘Cats host the Staten Island Yankees, affiliate of the New York Yankees. The night is being called Capital Region Baseball Heritage Night, presented by Berkshire Bank, and will celebrate the great history of professional baseball in our area. The ‘Cats will be giving away bobbleheads (to the first 1,500 fans through the gate) of Derek Jeter as a member of the 1994 Albany-Colonie Yankees.

You can guarantee that you receive a Jeter bobblehead by purchasing our Heritage Mini-Plan. This plan includes tickets to six of our best games during the season (including the Jeter bobblehead night). A perk of this plan is that you are GUARANTEED the bobblehead. Click here for more information.

With that said, there has been some confusion as to whether that is the only way to get a bobblehead. No it is not. We will still be giving away the bobblehead to the first 1,500 fans who walk through the gates that night. So if you want to wait until individual tickets go on sale April 4, you may do so. Just make sure you arrive early on August 20!

Want your kids to get in FREE at “The Joe?” Then come to the ValleyCats game on Saturday, July 21! The ValleyCats have teamed up once again with GE to be part of their GE-Kids-In-Free-Days promotion. All children 12 & under will get in FREE with a paying adult.

Since this is a blog post and blogs are considered a part of social media, it’s only fitting that we mention a new series of promotions during each ValleyCats Monday night home game. On Social Media Mondays, the ValleyCats will ask for fan participation on their mobile devices during the game. We will be asking fans to tweet/post on Facebook a picture of themselves at the game that night. Select pictures will be shown on our video board during the game for all of our fans to see! There will also be contests to win cool ValleyCats prizes.

Just days after the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, we’ll be holding Summer Olympics Night at “The Joe.” The date is Thursday, August 2 and the night will feature some new on-field promotions that will incorporate elements from different Olympic events. We’ll also have trivia and cool facts about the history of the Olympic Games.

A completely new promotion for 2012 is Half-Way to Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, August 15. The ‘Cats host the Brooklyn Cyclones, affiliate of the New York Mets, beginning at 7pm. We are inviting married couples to come to the game and renew their vows. Or maybe you just want to spend the night with that special baseball fan in your life. Either way…there will be love in the air AND post-game fireworks!

Also very exciting is the Blizzard in August on Friday, August 17. We thought that with the lack of snow during this winter, we would create white-out conditions in August! Of course there will be no snow, but there will be free white-t-shirts given to the first 2,000 fans that enter the stadium. All fans are encouraged to wear white to help create the “white-out” atmosphere.

New to us in 2012 is a home game on Labor Day, Monday, September 3. Almost everyone has that day off from work and we want you to spend your day with us! We thought…what do people like to do on Labor Day? Barbeque! So we’ve decided to create the Capital Region’s Biggest Cookout. More details will released as the season gets closer, so stay tuned!

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Odds & Ends

Attention Season Ticket and Mini Plan holders: If you haven’t renewed your seats for the 2012 season, don’t forget that you only have until April 1st to guarantee your same great seats.

Individual Tickets: Will go on sale Wednesday, April 4 at 10am.

Siena Basketball: SouthPaw and our staff will be at the final home game for the Siena Mens Basketball team this Sunday. They face Canisius at 2pm on Senior Day at the Times Union Center. We’ll have a table set up on the concourse handing out 2012 promotional schedules, calendars, ticket information and more. We’ll also have a sign-up to win tickets to Opening Night on June 20. SouthPaw will be roaming the arena visiting with fans and helping to throw t-shirts into the stands.

Siena is offering the Saints Family Four Pack, which includes four game tickets, four popcorns and four yearbooks. You can purchase your Saints Family Pack at the Times Union Center Box Office in advance, night of the game or through the following link: Click Here

St. Patrick’s Day Mini-Plan: Be on the lookout for the release of the ValleyCats St.Patrick’s Day Mini-Plan package. It will have many of the same great benefits as last year including tickets to six of the best ValleyCats games highlighted by Irish Night on September 4 with a pre-game concert by Hair of the Dog. Also included is a food voucher for corned beef and cabbage, a $10 gift certificate to the South End Tavern in Troy, a free t-shirt and more!

Pocket Schedules: Many people have been asking for the 2012 ValleyCats pocket schedules. We will have them the first week of March and will be distributing them to locations throughout the Capital Region. If you are interested in having pocket schedules at your place of business or have any ideas, please send an e-mail to info@tcvalleycats.com.

Spring Training: ValleyCats Media Relations Manager Chris Chenes will be heading down to Astros Spring Training at the end of March. He will be talking to many of the former ‘Cats, taking lots of picture and blogging about his trip. If you have any ideas or requests for Chris, you may e-mail him at chrischenes@tcvalleycats.com.

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OMG!! We can’t even begin to tell you how excited we are for the 2012 Season. We are looking forward to an amazing Season with all the amazing people that keep this franchise running. June is not too far away..we will BE THERE!
The O’Malleys (remember us, the Superlative usher and the Amazing Fan Services gal?)

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